The Fresno Food Expo is one of the key elements in the City’s economic development strategy to grow and support locally owned businesses. This week, we will be celebrating one of the Food Expo’s many success stories – P*DE*Q.

On Wednesday, P*DE*Q, which first publicly launched at the inaugural Food Expo earlier this year, will open P*DE*Q Corner, a new retail storefront and manufacturing headquarters across from Fresno High School.

Originally sold to cafes and other food service vendors wholesale, P*DE*Q has widened its scope to sell retail packages directly to consumers. The new facility will contain a “grab and go” outlet store and a café to serve walk-in customers. The majority of the facility is dedicated to manufacturing and packaging P*DE*Q.

Congratulations to P*DE*Q owner Flavia Takahashi-Flores for this important accomplishment. Learn more about P*DE*Q’s success story here.

Growing our food production industry is extremely important for our local economy because it reflects the largest export oriented industry in our region.

The City, in partnership with the Fresno Food Expo Advisory Committee, is planning a bigger and better Expo in 2012 . Based on the success of the inaugural event, exhibitor spaces are being expanded to make room for food and wine manufacturers throughout the eight-county San Joaquin Valley. (2011 Food Expo shown on left)

The 2012 Fresno Food Expo will be held at the Fresno Entertainment & Convention Center’s New Exhibit Hall on Thursday, March 8. Registration information is available at www.fresnofoodexpo.com.

Mayor Swearengin’s Activities

While some of these activities outlined below are not public meetings, these are some of the issues being addressed this week by Mayor Swearengin:

Participating in a meeting of the Fresno First Steps Home board of directors to discuss strategies to address the homelessness issue;

Conducting a number of internal meetings related to downtown revitalization;

Attending a Reading and Beyond open house at the Mosqueda Community Center. Reading and Beyond, which has received national recognition for its work in helping low-income children bridge the achievement gap , is operating programs for children and families at the center;

Attending the monthly meeting of the Council of Fresno County Governments;

Attending a meeting of the Fresno Bridge Academy’s board of directors. The Bridge Academy, a job readiness program of Reading and Beyond, is designed to help eligible unemployed and under-employed adults become employed or job-ready;

Meeting with City residents as part of the Mayor’s Open Door Day program, which provides citizens with the opportunity to meet directly with Mayor Swearengin to share ideas or concerns. Topics of this week’s meetings include the Learn2Earn initiative.

Start planning for the next Local Bites Night

On Tuesday, Nov. 8, Mayor Swearengin will be celebrating our locally owned restaurants at Richard’s Prime Rib & Seafood, 1609 E. Belmont Ave., starting at 5:30 p.m. Please join us at this dinner – or plan to eat at a locally owned restaurant at least once a month to help our local economy.If you’re planning to join Mayor Swearengin, just remember – when it comes to the bill, you’re on your own!

All of the dates and additional information on the Local Bite Night schedule is posted on the Taste Fresno website at www.TasteFresno.com/localbites. For a great list of locally owned restaurants, see the City of Fresno’s Local Business Directory or go to www.FresnoLocalBiz.com.

‘Go Green and Clean’ at Nielsen Park

The “Go Green and Clean” park beautification program will be held at Nielsen Park, 1730 S. Fruit, on Saturday, Oct. 29.

Volunteers are encouraged to wear long pants, hats, gloves and sun block and bring plenty of drinking water. Basic work tools and supplies will be provided by the City of Fresno. Each volunteer will be required to complete a volunteer form and waiver.